I picked up a little something for my birthday while in Prescott last week: a Walther PPK/S in 9mm kurz (380). I’ve wanted one of these for years and was lucky enough to find one that was imported, not some Smith & Wesson abortion.
This PPK/S was built in Ulm, "West" Germany sometime between 1968 and 1979 and imported by Interarms before they acquired the license to build them here. It features German markings and is stamped as "9mm kurz". In fact, the only English markings on it are "Made in W. Germany" and the Interarms import stamp.
It came with nothing but a magazine. Fortunately, the manual is available for download from Walther. Surprisingly, the gun was beautifully clean inside and out and the finish has only been slightly worn. Shooting it is a pleasure. It kicks a bit more than one might expect for a .380 thanks to the blowback design (one piece frame and barrel), but I find I much prefer the heft of an all-steel construction over modern polymer silliness.
Future plans for it are a new set of springs to reduce the overwhelming 12.5 pound trigger pull when firing double-action, and I would like to find a nice set of wood grips. I particularly like these ones…
